Bring Her Home: Stolen Daughters of Turtle Island

Terri O’Connor – My Spirit is Still Here

Bring Her Home: Stolen Daughters of Turtle Island

Exhibit: October 11 – November 30

November 2 Activities: A Day of Raising Awareness through Action and Education

October 30, 2019, Listen to the interview with curator, Angela Two Stars and Katie Carter, KAXE, Bemidji MN >>

10 am: Being Lost: Curator Angela Two Stars will deliver a one hour program designed to help children understand what it means to be missing.
11 am – 2pm: Bring Her Home Silk Screening. Watermark will provide BHH templates so you can creen print designs onto your own T-shirt or one of ours (limited availability. Free admission, donations accepted.
12 – 1pm: Angela Two Stars Bring Her Home Curator Talk

In step with the international #MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women) awareness campaign, “Bring Her Home” addresses the epidemic of violence against Native women through paintings, digital work, sculpture, and photography.

The traveling exhibit features original work by 20 Indigenous artists from across the United States and many tribal nations. Through their work, artists tell their own stories and those of the impacted women, families and communities.

Minnesota is one of only seven states to have established a task force to study the prevalence of violence against Indigenous women and girls.

“The impact of this exhibit hits you in the gut and stays there, eliciting rage, awareness, and hope, while affirming the strength and beauty of Indian women. You may be a person who has never attended an art show, but if you are American Indian, chances are good that you know a woman who has been the target of violence. Go to this. The artists speak from the heart, and what they say will follow you long after your visit.” – The Circle News of Minneapolis, Minnesota

“Bring Her Home” will be on display at the Center through the month November for Native American Heritage Month. 505 Bemidji Ave N, Bemidji MN. The month is a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions, and histories and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people. Heritage Month is an opportune time to raise a general awareness about the unique challenges Native people have faced both historically and in the present, and the ways in which tribal citizens have worked to conquer these challenges.

“It has been an honor curating this exhibit for the second year in a row. Our hope is that this exhibit can help raise awareness and tell the stories that honor victims and families of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women,” said curator Angela Two Stars (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate).

When the founding gallery, “All My Relations Arts” in Minneapolis, MN began to build the exhibit, they asked artists to consider the following:
• What does it mean to be missing?
• How are the families and loved ones affected and how do we create sanctuary, recovery, and healing?
• What are your thoughts on awareness and prevention of Missing, Murdered, and the Human Trafficking of Indigenous Women and Girls and what must be done to turn the tide on this epidemic social ill?
• The plea, “…we just want to bring her home…” addresses two potential outcomes: the enduring hope that the missing woman is found alive, and the grief and agony in the closure that comes from the murdered brought home. What are your thoughts on this complexity of emotions?

For more information about Bring Her Home: Stolen Daughters of Turtle Island please visit allmyrelationsarts.com.

Walkthrough of the MMIW art exhibit “Bring Her Home: Stolen Daughters of Turtle Island” from Unicorn Riot on Vimeo.

Bring Her Home is a project organized by All My Relations Gallery, an initiative of Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI), in partnership with the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, and American Indian Community Housing Organization. The exhibition is curated by Angela Two Stars and assistant curator Moira Villard.